KDE Plasma 6.8 Beta Released - TUXEDO Computers

Last week, KDE released the beta version of Plasma 6.8, marking the start of the final testing phase for the next release of the free desktop environment. In addition to numerous smaller improvements, Plasma 6.8 introduces new features for screen recording, Remote Desktop, and accessibility. KDE is also continuing work on the new Union design system. The final release is scheduled for October 14, fittingly coinciding with KDE’s 30th anniversary. This also means that a new stable Plasma release is in sight for the stable version of TUXEDO OS „Continuous Debian“. We take an early look at the most important changes.

Plasma Says Goodbye to the X11 Session

One of the most significant changes in Plasma 6.8 concerns its display server architecture. Starting with version 6.8, KDE will no longer provide a native X11 session. Plasma 6.7 is therefore the last release in which users can still choose between Plasma on X11 and Plasma on Wayland at the login screen.

This does not mean that older X11 applications will stop working under Plasma 6.8. They will continue to run via the Xwayland compatibility layer within the Wayland session. What is actually being removed are the X11-specific code paths from Plasma itself, including those in Plasma Shell, System Settings, and device management.

KDE points out that Wayland has, meanwhile, become the default session in most distributions. Removing the native X11 session therefore allows development and testing efforts to focus entirely on a single display server architecture. Users who still depend on X11 for specific applications, scripts, or workflows should check before upgrading to Plasma 6.8 whether these use cases work as expected under Wayland.

Backups with Kup

With Plasma 6.8, KDE is officially bringing the Kup backup scheduler into the Plasma release cycle. Kup itself, including its integration into System Settings, has been available for quite some time. What is new is that Kup will now be released together with Plasma and should therefore benefit from a more regular development and maintenance cycle.

KDE also hopes this will encourage distributions to ship the backup tool by default as part of their Plasma offering. Among other features, Kup supports incremental backups to external or other mounted storage devices.

The screenshooter Spectacle is also receiving a major new feature. Screen recordings can now include audio, with users able to choose between microphone input, system audio, or both at the same time. This is particularly useful when creating tutorials, demonstrations, or other instructional videos. KDE has also improved the overall quality of screen recordings and further optimized recording on displays with high refresh rates.

More Convenience for Remote Desktop

The RDP server integrated into Plasma has also seen substantial improvements. With Plasma 6.8, clipboard synchronization between local and remote systems now works in both directions. The session can optionally be locked automatically when the final RDP connection is closed.

In addition, the server can adapt transmission quality to the available network bandwidth. KDE has also reduced screencasting latency, which in turn improves the responsiveness of RDP sessions.

Improved Accessibility

KDE has also made several improvements to accessibility and general usability. A new Dwell Clicker is aimed primarily at users who cannot use mouse buttons. If the pointer remains in the same position for a configurable period of time, Plasma automatically triggers a click.

A new mode for middle-button scrolling has also been added, allowing users to scroll without having to keep the middle mouse button pressed continuously.

Multi-monitor setups benefit from color-coded display numbers that make individual screens easier to identify. In Display Configuration, monitors can also be positioned with pixel-level precision using the arrow keys. System Monitor gains, among other things, percentage-based VRAM usage and the ability to assign processes to specific CPU cores or CPU groups.

Union Continues to Take Shape

With Plasma 6.8, the technical preview of KDE’s new Union design system enters its next phase. Union is intended to provide a more consistent look and feel across KDE applications in the long term.

While Plasma 6.7 initially focused on QtQuick applications, the current beta also allows traditional QtWidgets applications such as Dolphin and Kate to be rendered using Union. The implementation is still at an early stage and may show visible glitches. KDE is therefore explicitly encouraging users to test it and report any issues they encounter.

Further Improvements to KWin

There are also numerous improvements under the hood. Discover now uses less memory when checking for updates and loads icons for Flatpak applications more quickly. Plasma itself should start slightly faster, while optimizations to Breeze and SVG rendering reduce graphics memory usage.

On systems with Intel or Nvidia graphics, the KWin compositor also improves performance and power efficiency for fullscreen content when used together with HDR, ICC color profiles, or Night Color. KWin now additionally supports HDR content using the HLG transfer function.

The Plasma 6.8 beta is primarily aimed at testers and developers. KDE provides both live images and container images for testing and encourages users to report any issues they find before the final release.